Video, Casting your own

Casting your own is fun to do and can save you alot of money in the long run, plus you get the satisfaction of doing it yourself. This is how I do it without breaking the bank.
http://youtu.be/GjjkE6y8avY

I want to get started casting bullets, and have a pretty large block of pure lead a friend gave me. What is the proper tool I need for cutting smaller pieces off this block to fit in the pot?

Fiv3r

January 3, 2013, 09:42 PM

How cool:) I have a mould for .454 and a big ol' hunk o lead. This video has inspired me to finally take the casting plunge this weekend. Thank you:)

brushhippie

January 3, 2013, 09:48 PM

You can cut lead with about anything, hammer and a wide wood chisel would work good I would think....I know, wood chisel? yep.

4v50 Gary

January 3, 2013, 10:03 PM

Sawing can lose too much metal (unless you collect the dust). Like Brushhippie suggested, get a cheap imported chisel (or garage sale buy) and whack away at it.

If what you find is a either a Swiss made Double Cherry or Pfiel chisel, don't you dare use that for lead or household chores. Those chisels command a premium price and are made of good steel and should be reserved for fine woodwork.

BHP FAN

January 3, 2013, 10:47 PM

great video!

J-Bar

January 3, 2013, 11:25 PM

Here's a question:

I want to get started casting bullets, and have a pretty large block of pure lead a friend gave me. What is the proper tool I need for cutting smaller pieces off this block to fit in the pot?
You can chop pieces off with a hatchet.

Or sometimes you can melt sections off a bigger block with a Bernzomatic torch, if you can position it where you can catch the runoff into something like a cast iron muffin mold or some other appropriate container.

Wear gloves.

Pancho

January 4, 2013, 12:53 AM

Good video, I gave up on my Lee lead melter years ago for the turkey fryer and pot. Slag would bind the valve and you couldn't shut off the molten lead flow.
The only thing different that I do is to cut the sprue into a separate cloth instead of over the pot to avoid getting more foreign crap into molten lead. Thanks Brushhippie.

FiveStrings

January 4, 2013, 09:47 PM

THanks - I've got some wood chisels and a mallet that I know are not fine tools. Just yer basic off the rack Tru-Value wood chisels that I bought a couple of years ago for a project.

Big Al Mass

January 5, 2013, 03:10 AM

Great video, brushhippie. I was wondering. I have a quantity of fishing sinkers. Are they generally pure lead?

brushhippie

January 5, 2013, 09:39 AM

Thanks guys! I do believe that they are pure lead, but I dont know that to be fact.

robhof

January 5, 2013, 10:24 PM

Lead sinkers run the gamut from pure lead to almost no lead. It depends largely on the maker and their source. A neighbor of mine many years ago made sinkers comercially and sold them at flea markets, seems he had the contract to refresh the berms at a local range and used the lead for his side business. I've used sinker lead for modern bullets with a 50/50 mix with WW's. If you have a source of pure lead, you can cast a ball with it and cast with sinkers and weigh a few of each and take the average, pure lead should be the heaviest, the lighter the more the alloy; poor mans lead tester. works for me. I use the cores of jacketed bullets recovered from our range as they weigh out equal to pure and are soft enough for B/p use.

Jim, West PA

January 5, 2013, 10:47 PM

If what you find is a either a Swiss made Double Cherry or Pfiel chisel, don't you dare use that for lead or household chores. Those chisels command a premium price and are made of good steel and should be reserved for fine woodwork.

;)

Or you could just get rid of them. PM me for my address :rolleyes:
LOL

Pulp

January 5, 2013, 11:57 PM

A good rule of thumb is, if you can scratch the lead with your fingernail it is soft enough for cap and ball revolvers.

Caution to all wannabe casters: Hot bullets look just like cold bullets.;) It just doesn't take as long to look at hot ones.:eek: